A reason Buford never left Popovich

They were the same guy, and they recognized it from a few thousand miles away. R.C. Buford found what Gregg Popovich needed, and Scott Pioli found what Bill Belichick needed, and both of their systems won championships.

That’s why Buford and Pioli often called each other to compare notes, though they worked in different sports.

“Just because the football and the basketball aren’t shaped alike,” Pioli said a few years ago, “doesn’t mean ideas can’t be.”

The Spurs and Patriots hummed along with rare stability. No current NBA coach has been with one team longer than Popovich, and no current NFL coach has been with one team longer than Belichick.

But four years ago Pioli went to Kansas City, getting more money and more control along the way. It’s what people in their profession do. Pioli knew what worked, and he figured that would translate in another city.

What he and Buford did is both simple and complex. “It’s about the philosophy of team building,” Pioli once said.

This week showed again how fragile that is. The Chiefs fired Pioli to get Andy Reid to oversee the operations, and no one questions the move. Pioli had made mistakes, including trading for Matt Cassel, and the Chiefs finished 2-14 last season.

Pioli admitted as much. “The bottom line is that I did not accomplish all of what I set out to do,” he said. “To the Hunt family — to the great fans of the Kansas City Chiefs — to the players, all employees and alumni, I truly apologize for not getting the job done.”

So what happened to the youngest to ever win the NFL’s executive of the year award? How did he go from finding the right pieces for the Patriots to failing miserably?

Maybe it’s about being in the right spot, with the right owner, with the right partner as a coach.

Maybe, too, it’s what has kept Buford in San Antonio for nearly 20 years.